A Dark Horse Emerges

At nine in the morning, the competition kicked off.

The city-level round of the International English Competition was straightforward: a single English speech. However, the topics were anything but ordinary, often delving into vast and specialized fields like technology, medicine, humanity, and even the cosmos. The panel of judges included experts from the South City English Research Institute and representatives from the international organizers.

Each of the 100 contestants had less than three minutes to deliver their speech, with judges' comments typically lasting no more than a minute.

Ji Chuxing, after a series of yawns, mentally dismissed the first few dozen contestants. Their pronunciation, level, and expertise paled in comparison to Zhou Sixue's. She felt at ease.

With earphones in and eyes half-closed, she suddenly jolted awake to enthusiastic applause. Blinking in confusion, she looked up to see Wen Xinyue standing confidently on stage, saying in English, "That concludes my speech. Thank you, and I welcome the judges' comments."

The judges, seated with their backs to the audience, exchanged approving glances. Even the notoriously strict Xie Yiming nodded in approval.

Out of the seven judges, five asked Wen Xinyue questions. The two foreign judges from the organizing committee were particularly impressed, praising her on the spot: "You are the best speaker I've seen since the start of this year's competition."

This simple English sentence was understood by all. Another judge added, "If there's an opportunity, I would like to invite you to Europe for an exchange program. The students and teachers there would surely welcome you."

Despite Wen Xinyue's recent exposure as hypocritical due to the incident at Teacher Wu's laboratory, many couldn't help but feel envious of her current acclaim.

Some even forgot their previous criticisms: "I knew Xinyue would do well."

"Of course, didn't you see how the judges invited her to study in Europe? That's impressive."

Parents around congratulated Zhou Ru, who beamed with pride and responded modestly.

"This child has always been smart. It's not really my doing; she has a natural talent for languages."

"Oh? Let her teach your daughter. Well, my child is in her final year of high school, so she's quite busy with studies. Maybe in the future."

Tang Chuxin's mother, though smiling and flattering, didn't show much warmth. She gently patted Tang Chuxin's hand, silently reassuring her: Don't worry, you're no worse than Wen Xinyue.

After Wen Xinyue finished, she was warmly welcomed by Liu Xiuping and the Qi Hang class.

"Xinyue, you're definitely going to the finals."

"Exactly, you did so well. I knew it would turn out this way."

The recognition and attention from her classmates satisfied Wen Xinyue's vanity. She smiled and said, "Thank you, everyone. I just did my best."

Turning to Tang Chuxin, she said, "Chuxin, you're next."

Tang Chuxin was indeed the next contestant. When she went up, her fans held up a banner to cheer her on. She also received recognition from the judges, but Ji Chuxing found herself yawning again.

"When are you going up?" she asked Zhou Sixue.

"Huh?" Zhou Sixue glanced at her draw number. "I'm last."

Because she wasn't selected through the preliminary rounds but was directly named by Xie Yiming, she was the last contestant. Ji Chuxing nodded and promptly fell asleep.

By the time the 99th contestant finished, six hours had passed since the start of the competition, including a one-hour break. Most people in the audience were slumped in their chairs, and some who knew they had performed poorly had already left.

A few other contestants, like Wen Xinyue, had also received praise from the judges.

The 99th contestant finished, and the announcer said, "Please welcome our final contestant, Zhou Sixue from Class 16, South City First High School!"

Ji Chuxing jolted awake and sat up straight. The group from Class 16, who had been slumping in their chairs, also sat up straight!

Lu Xing and Wu Hao stood up abruptly, holding a banner and unfurling it behind the crowd. The red banner with white letters was extremely eye-catching.

The two big idiots, each standing on one side, grinned widely, showing off their teeth.

"Zhou Sixue, go for it! You're the best!"

Other members of Class 16 shouted, "Little Sixue, go for it! You're the best!"

"Teacher Xiao Zhou, go for it!"

As Zhou Sixue stepped onto the stage, she turned to see the large banner behind the audience and was completely stunned.

Wow!

How tacky!

After the competition, she would definitely beat someone up!

After a moment of shock, Zhou Sixue began her speech. She took a deep breath and, seeing Ji Chuxing's calm face in the audience, felt more composed.

With Ji Chuxing here, she believed in herself and trusted Ji Chuxing even more. After all, Ji Chuxing had revised her speech.

This was a competition she and Ji Chuxing were facing together!

She felt happy!

Her speech lasted just over two minutes, and those who had left started to return, as the results would be announced immediately.

The Qi Hang class members were dismissive.

"So what? The result is already decided. What's the point of her going up?"

"Making such a big fuss, it's embarrassing."

Perhaps because the competition was nearly over, they became more brazen.

"Xinyue and Chuxin will definitely make it to the finals. Listen to the nonsense she's spouting. Wow, I even heard a mispronunciation. There's no hope for her."

"I heard it too. It's so obvious. Tsk tsk, she probably won't even pass."

"Hey, don't you think some of her words aren't even English? Could it be that she doesn't know them and is just making them up?"

Zhao Feifei wanted to hit someone, but this was the final round, and fighting would get her penalized. She couldn't let that affect Zhou Sixue's performance. After the competition, she'd take care of them one by one.

It was infuriating!

Zhou Sixue delivered her speech on the universe theme with ease. Just as she finished bowing and saying thank you, all the judges excitedly stood up, clapping so hard their hands turned red. They looked at Zhou Sixue as if they had struck gold, their eyes shining with enthusiasm, which made Zhou Sixue feel a bit uneasy.

Something felt off.

The female judge who had earlier praised Wen Xinyue as the best speaker she had seen was now uncontrollably excited. She rushed to the stage and hugged the dazed Zhou Sixue, exclaiming, "Oh my God, darling, you are a genius! You are the most talented Chinese person in English and public speaking I've ever met!"

Zhou Sixue stood dazed on the stage.

The female judge, turning back, excitedly told the others in broken Chinese, "I'm giving her full marks! No one can stop me!"

Another male judge from the organizing committee was equally excited: "Genius! I'm giving her full marks!"

The Chinese judges, while trying to contain their excitement, nodded deeply.

Zhou Sixue was stunned!

Almost everyone in the audience was shocked!

This... This was impossible!

How could this happen?

Especially the Qi Hang class, who felt this was surreal. They had clearly heard Zhou Sixue mispronounce and make errors. How could the judges not notice?

How... How could she have become the dark horse?